any year.. they're all the same, with the exception of the new plastic on the 04 (?) and up.

i saw a guy ROCKIN a 250 ninja today. bike couldn't have been good for more than 40mph with that gearing, but damn, he was just rippin that lil bike.

all you really need to do is learn rear brake control, once you get that, everything else is cake (for the most part)